Default and AP Markers

oldbutwise2023

**Apologies for the extremely long post**
I wonder if anyone could assist on my situation?

Early 2014 took out car finance with Black Horse for my small business.
Within a few months of taking this out a company I was subcontracting for went into liquidation owing me £££ of pounds.
This left me in a situation where I was struggling to make regular payments towards my hire purchase, I contacted Blackhorse and made them aware of the situation and made a payment arrangement to bring the account upto date.
Payment arrangements where made between May 2015 and April 2017.
By June 2017 account was all up to date, move forward to April 2018 and I decided to to undertake the 50/50 voluntary termination on the vehicle.
This went ahead and they collected the vehicle, meanwhile I went and purchased another vehicle.
As far as I was aware, the voluntary termination was the end of the matter due to the value and condition of the vehicle.
I've not needed any further credit or applied for any, however late 2022 decided to download Clearscore to check my file, and I was shocked that according to my file I was in default since May 2018 and still owed £666.00.
I immediately called Blackhorse and asked what was going on etc and they told me that there was a shortfall when the vehicle was sold and I still owed £666.00, They went on further and told me that they had written to me advising of the shortfall in May 2018 but I had never received any letters or communication from them.
They never once called or text or contacted me with regards to this shortfall but I decided to make the payment there and then and follow up via letters etc to try to find out what had gone on and why a default notice was showing from May 2018.
I am now in a much better place financially but am looking at a possible mortgage application and know that this default won't look favourably for a decent rate.Having signed up with check my file I can see the three CRA reports on my file.
Equifax currently show my payments all the way from July 2014 which includes the AP markers from May 2015-April 2017, the default is applied May 2018.
According to Equifax the monthly payment is £6,993 for 51months which is totally incorrect, I purchased a car not a private jet.
It also shows reported until May 2024.STATUS AS OF NOVEMBER 2022Balance: £0 (Limit: £0, Monthly Change:)The account has been satisfactorily closed
Experian show payments from Dec 2016 and a default date of May 2017.According to Experian the monthly payment is also £6,993 for 51months which is totally incorrect,It shows as reported until May 2023???
STATUS AS OF DECEMBER 2023Balance: £0 (Limit: Not Reported, MonthlyChange: £0)The account has been settled/closed in adefault state.
Transunion show payments from December 2017 and a default marker applied 2018.
Again according to Transunion the monthly payment is also £6,993 for 51months which is again totally incorrect,
STATUS AS OF NOVEMBER 2022Balance: £0 (Limit: £0, Monthly Change:-£666)The account has been satisfied. Thepayment status has been reported as indefault.
I really wish to clean this up before applying for a mortgage so a few questions based on the information above:
Should a default marker been applied way before the above date/s?Why is Equifax still showing history all the way back to 2014 when even on its own report this shows as reported until May 2023 yet here we are in December and still showing.
Do the incorrect monthly payment figures throw any strength in any argument to have the default date changed to earlier so facilitating the removal of the account showing on any CRas?
I hope you can help?Thank you

sourcrates

FCA guidance states a default can be registered after between 3/6 missed contractual repayments (so between 3 and 6 months).

If you think a default should have been registered much earlier than it was, them make a complaint to the company concerned, and ask them to backdate it so that guidance is applied in your particular case.

You can always escalate the matter to the FOS should you not be satisfied with the outcome.

MrFrugalFever

Depending on the exact terminology used when handing the vehicle back to Black Horse, it could well have resulted in the default. If they had assumed (wrongly) it was voluntary surrender then you would have been liable for a shortfall and a default marker applied. Had it been a voluntary termination as you have suggested in your OP then they should have made the shortfall amount clear at time of request to VT, you would have been liable for this as it must reach 50% of total amount payable (that includes all interest and charges levied) before you can effectively walk away without impact to your credit reports. Both VS and VT are subject to a 'fair wear and tear' inspection and damage outside of this would have been noted/charged to you also. You'd normally know about this on the day of collection as the collection agent would have needed to note down the damage on a report.

If you believe the default has been made in error or has been placed in the wrong time frames then you will need to raise this with BlackHorse through their complaints channel, outlining evidence and reasoning why you believe this should be changed. Don't forget to include that you require them to update all three credit reporting agencies.

This will likely take a couple of months, several weeks to investigate and respond and then a further several weeks to reflect on your credit reports. If it goes to the FOS then expect anywhere up to 9 months for a resolution. 

molerat

Is VT available on what may have been a business contract ?

Any VT option may have been lost as the account had been in arrears.

MrFrugalFever

molerat said:

Is VT available on what may have been a business contract ?

Any VT option may have been lost as the account had been in arrears.

If a purchase is made via a business then that waivers the CCA 1974 right to VT.